Lost and Found
by ADashOfInsanity
Summary: Touya has had his friends stolen from him by Team Plasma. Despite N's principles, he cannot believe he can let this be. Still, none of his neat 'principles' can explain his feelings towards this strange trainer. Perhaps returning what is lost will help him figure it all out.


"I can't battle you because I've lost all my pokémon!"

N heard the anguished cry from his position kneeling behind a clump of bushes. A curious deerling was staring at him from across the small clearing, however the trainer on the ground had not noticed its attentions. N willed the intrigued creature not to give his position away. He met its gaze and it skittered off back into the trees, either intimidated or understanding his need for concealment. Deerlings were often preyed upon by larger pokémon. It probably understood that he wanted to hide.

"Team Plasma took them?" asked the trainer's rival. N didn't like him very much. The bespectacled boy cared for nothing but other's defeat and worked his pokémon tirelessly. He was clearly concerned for his pokémon's well-being but he certainly didn't share the caring approach his companion did. In truth N had only seen him once or twice, but naught could compare to that trainer. His name was Touya. N knew he was fascinated by him. For all his neatly thought out formulae concerning the relations of people to their pokémon…none of the applied to him. Touya was truly a marvellous exception to the rules.

Yes…yes… I was at the pokémon Centre and…I was taking them back from Nurse Joy in their balls and…and this guy bumped into me and another took the opportunity to snatch them…right…right out of my hands!"

N could not see from this angle but it sounded like Touya was in tears. He clutched the small bag even tighter to himself. The warmth of six occupied Pokeballs was obvious on his chest. He was waiting for the right moment. He ached to see the trainer's face light up in happiness at the return of his pokémon, however N knew that was impossible. Touya knew what he was and after those grunts had taken his precious pokémon away from him… N's ideals grew shaky around Touya. Humans and pokémon did need to be separated but Touya loved his pokémon, and they loved him in equal measure. That was why N had gone to such lengths to find them, to take them back. He remembered the day when Father had told him he could not play with many of his friends anymore. His friends had been wrestled away from him as they cried out and fought to return to him whilst he was immobilised under his father's watchful eye. He didn't want Touya to continue struggling against the pain of it all. Touya was illogically kind and wonderful. He should never have had to go through such a thing.

"I'm sorry for your losses," said Touya's friend, Cherry or whatever his name was, "At least they didn't take…"

"They took all of them!" Touya wailed, "I only have six pokémon! I don't like keeping them in the computer. It seems wrong, so I just have…had the six."  
Touya's pokémon had informed N of the fact their trainer did not like the boxes. He had released them all as soon as they were far away enough from the castle. He had conversed with all of them. They were eager, so glad to talk about how caring and fun their trainer was. He promised them all he would return them to Touya and they could be cared for and have fun again. He had considered that eventually they may have to separate again, however he tucked those thoughts away for another time. Right now he just wanted Touya to stop crying and smile at him. If he couldn't smile at N…well just a smile would do.

That was why he was hiding in these bushes. He would return Touya's pokémon when he wasn't looking and then wait, hidden, to see his reaction. He wanted to see Touya's joyous expression when he received his friends back. Perhaps witnessing their reunion would help him find the solutions to the immeasurably complicated formulae his mind had wrapped round this one trainer. Maybe he would work out how he was supposed to feel in this situation upon seeing Touya's emotions. However this simply could not happen unless Touya was alone. Cherry would certainly attack him.

So he bided his time. Touya was comforted by his friend with little effect. Cheren (not Cherry) tried to encourage him to go back to the pokémon Centre with him however Touya resisted his attempts and merely lay on the ground in the clearing, staring at the sky. N thought he would fall asleep there and he was proved correct in his assumptions. Touya seemed to have enough will power left to put up a tent and huddle inside it. He had a torch too, from the looks of things. N could see his silhouette on the tent's side and when that silhouette stopped moving, N decided the time had come.

As quietly as he could, ignoring the stares on the back of his neck from the pokémon in a nearby tree, he approached the solitary tent. In his state of grief, Touya had forgotten to zip up his tent flap. N was grateful for this as he pushed it aside the best he could and looked about for Touya's bag. His gaze however fell on the sleeping trainer. Touya had been crying. Humans went very pink when they cried and their eyes were sore. He had only ever seen his reflection cry before but he was fairly sure the signs were the same. Taking pokémon from some people caused a great deal of grief, but that was because they didn't understand how much better lives their pokémon would son lead. However he somehow knew returning Touya's friends was the best thing to do. If he was every caught…he could say he wanted to make sure their heroic battle would take place. Touya would make the most wonderful hero!  
However that wasn't what he was trying to do right now. He could solve the problem of Touya another time. He just had to give him back his friends. He located Touya's bag with ease and carefully crouched down to see if he could reach it without entering the tent. This proved impossible so he crawled in and ever so slowly took the bag from Touya's side. Once out of the tent again, he carefully put all the Pokeballs back in the bag.

"Make sure he stays safe," he whispered to the sleeping pokémon as he restored them to their previous home. He crawled back inside the tent and placed the bag where he'd found it. He felt oddly nice. There was a sort of warm feeling in his chest and he couldn't help but feel happy. He smiled to himself all the way out of the tent and as he was getting to his feet. This went against all his principles, why did he feel so glad? He liked this warm sensation, it made him feel better about himself. He almost wanted to wake Touya up and see if he felt like this too.

"Agh!" All thoughts of warmth left him as he suddenly toppled to the ground. He landed hard and only when he was inhaling grass did he feel the tight grip about his ankle. He rolled over and was suddenly dazzled by a torch being shone in his face. He shielded his watering eyes as he staggered to his feet. Touya lowered the torch.

"I can explain," N began, wondering whether telling the truth or lies were applicable in this situation. He tried to calculate the best way to react in this situation. What was the correct distance to be from someone in relation to how well you knew them? It was one of the many formulae he was working on. He thought he may be too close to Touya right now So many factors to take into account! Did he have the time to work this out?

"Oh!" For all his thought the simple exclamation was all that escaped him as he was suddenly held very tight around the middle. Touya had buried his face in his shirt and looked as if he was about to cry again. This was illogical. Why would he be upset about having his pokémon returned? He floundered awkwardly for a moment before remember some of the illustrations in the books he'd read as a child. Touya was embracing him, the normal thing to do would embrace back. N did so. Touya didn't seem to dislike it.

"Thank you," It seemed his tears had subsided enough for him to speak, "Thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome." N found the situation rather confusing however he kept his arms around Touya because it felt like the right thing to do. Also that nice warm feeling had come back and he wanted to keep it there as long as possible. It felt even warmer when he finally realised why Touya was crying. Everything made a lot more sense if the act of crying was the direct result of an extreme emotional surge, rather than just that of misery. It explained why pain caused tears, also why anger did so too. However Touya did not seem hurt or angry, he seemed happy. Everything made a bit more sense now.

After what N thought might be ten minutes or so of holding each other, Touya seemed to calm down. He looked up and suddenly he frowned.

"How did you get that?" He traced a finger of the long cut across N's cheek. N decides this is a time for honesty. Touya's thoughts on Team Plasma in the light of having his pokémon taken could not be favourable. He had been told honesty was the best approach for being viewed as good once, so perhaps that applied now.

"Ghetsis' ceremonial sword-staff has many sharp edges. He attempted to hit me with it again however I was able to sidestep his attempt and only received this cut."

"Why did he hit you? Aren't you his… his King?"

"He is my father; he is allowed to hit me. Even Kings must respect their father's wishes." N watched as Touya seemed to struggle to take this information in. He and Touya must have been raised different ways. Touya wasn't raised to become a King therefore he was finding the principles a bit difficult to understand.

"I don't think he's allowed but…I'll get you a plaster, something to keep it clean," Touya seemed very flustered as he grabbed his bag, "I can't thank you enough. I thought you wanted pokémon to be separate from people?"

"I could hear the voices of your pokémon, they were despairing and they missed you. I also noticed you were despairing and missed them. I could not rest until this was amended. You have always been the great anomaly in my results. I wished you to be happy so I stole your pokémon from the men who had taken them. In this case two negative actions multiply to make a positive result that I can understand."

"Yeah but bad things often just get worse," Touya replied, "So doing bad things isn't a good idea." He emerged from the tent with a small box in one hand.

"I know that," N said quickly. He didn't understand why Touya was smiling in this fashion. Yes he should be happy that his pokémon was back, but he looked like he was about to laugh. He offered N the box of plasters.

"Sorry, I've only got kiddie ones; my mum thought they were funny. I've got Ducklett patterned ones, Audino patterned ones and I think there's a Frillish one in there somewhere." He showed N the plasters. Indeed they were shaped and patterned like pokémon. N thought they were wonderful. He had only had bandages when he was little, he wondered if Anthea and Concordia knew about these.

"May I have an Audino-patterned one please?" he asked eagerly, "Audinos are known to be kind and caring healers and therefore suit medical products."

"Yeah, I suppose they do," Black seemed to want to laugh still; N could hear it in his voice, "Here let me." He reached up and carefully laid the plaster over N's cheek. When done, he didn't step away as N had expected him to. He simply stared at him, smiling.

Without due warning, Touya proceeded to do something incredibly strange. N knew what it was; he had seen it in the illustrations of books when he was small. He knew it was called a kiss and he knew it was a form of affection, yet why would Touya suddenly do that to him?

"Just kissing you better," said Touya with a laugh. He seemed to enjoy the confusion on N's face.

"My lips were not in pain." N touched them to make sure they had not been altered. He took a few steps back from Touya who seemed very amused. He felt a warmth rise to his cheeks, different from the feeling in his chest, though that remained. He was baffled by this. Why was Touya showing him such affection? Even he knew you didn't just go kiss anyone. It was a special form of showing affection, different to a hand shake or an embrace.

"I know you're older than me, but you're kind of cute when you're all lit up about pokémon. When you're clueless too, it's odd but cute."  
N stared at him, utterly perplexed. Cute? Clueless? Well why didn't Touya give him a clue as to what he was trying to say? He thought cute was a way of saying pokémon were appealing, with big eyes and soft fur, though that was not counteracting the truth that all pokémon were appealing in their own unique fashions. So what did Touya mean?

"Also you kind of have a wonky Audino stuck to your face."

"You put it there!" N wanted answers and Touya wasn't helping him! He was just making his situation worse. Why was this one trainer so much of an anomaly? Why couldn't he just fit in with all of N's neat formulae like everyone else did?

"Are we going to meet again?" Touya asked him. N nodded, finally something he understood in its entirety!

"I am certain we will. If I remain on schedule I will go to Dragonspiral Tower shortly. I get the feeling we will meet there."  
They stood there in silence for a moment until N decided this was a good moment to make his departure.

"I look forward to our next meeting Touya. My best wishes to your six friends."

"Yeah, goodbye N!" Touya still sounded ever so happy. As N turned to leave the clearing he heard Touya turn on his communication device and exclaim,

"Cheren, wake up, you'll never guess what!"

N smiled. Truly, he did look forward to their next encounter. Perhaps that was why Touya had confused him so, to guarantee their continued correspondence. Yes, that seemed likely. He waved as he walked from the clearing, hoping Touya would see him do so. Was this how you made human friends? You did something very dangerous and then they thought you were cute and clueless? It was a bizarre conundrum that he knew he would one day solve and he looked forward to doing so. The warm feeling had not left him this time and he hoped it would remain all the way home.


End file.
